1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus in which an ink ribbon having a plurality of monochromatic inks of different colors is repeatedly arranged in a longitudinal direction on a sheet is used, an image to be transferred is formed on an intermediate transfer sheet serving as a recording medium, the image to be transferred on the intermediate transfer sheet is transferred on a printed matter, and a desired image is formed on a printed matter such as a disk, a card and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art For this type of printing apparatus, for example, a printing apparatus 100X has been known, as shown in FIG. 9 (for example, see Patent Document 1)
Specifically, in the printing apparatus 100X, a head unit U3 and an intermediate transfer unit U6 are mounted on a supporting plate 2X upwardly constructed on a rear portion of a chassis 1 (described as a frame in Patent Document 1). In addition, a ribbon unit U7 is detachably mounted in the supporting plate 2X.
Further, by making heater elements of a thermal head (not shown) of the head unit U3 emit heat selectively, an ink of an ink ribbon wound on a ribbon roller (not shown) of the ribbon unit U7 mounted on the supporting plate 2X is melted, and transferred to an intermediate transfer body (not shown) of an intermediate transfer unit U6. Thus, the ink transferred again to a predetermined printed matter. Thereafter a desired printing is performed.
Furthermore, the afore-mentioned printing apparatus 100X is constructed such that the head unit U3 is supported by the supporting plate 2X in a cantilever manner. In addition, positioning projections 51 provided on the supporting plate 2X are fitted into positioning holes 52 of the ribbon unit U7, a positioning projection 53 of the head unit U3 is fitted into a positioning hole 54 of the ribbon unit U7, and a stopper lever 55 of the head unit U3 is rotated so as to make one end of the stopper lever 55 to be engaged with an engagement portion 56 of the ribbon unit U7. As a result, the ribbon unit U7 is fixed on the chassis 1.
According to the printing apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, since the other side of the head unit U3, which is supported in a cantilever manner, is supported by a supporting frame 57 of the ribbon unit U7, the head unit U3 can be reliably supported.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-337369
However, according to the above-mentioned printing apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is required that, even though the intermediate transfer body of the intermediate transfer unit is a long intermediate transfer sheet wound on a sheet bobbin, the intermediate transfer sheet be easily detachable, and a portion that holds the intermediate transfer sheet be reliably supported, similarly to the head unit.